How I got here:
USAF, 1973 to 1977. Served as a crew chief on the C5A Galaxy and 141 Star-lifter aircraft.
City of Burlingame, Park Maintenance.
Darling Cross Machine Tool Company, San Mateo, CA. Machine Repair Apprentice
Giddings & Lewis Machine Tool Co., Bickford Division, Menasha, Wis. Field Service Representative, 5 axis CNC horizontal spindle machining centers.
Oshkosh Truck Corp., Oshkosh, Wis. Plant maintenance including all machine tools.
Nodrtank Wind Turbine Co. Livermore, CA. 75KW wind turbine maintenance and repair.
Joe Clar & Sons, Inc. Machine tool sales. Service Manager
Why I decided to go it alone:
After working on many, many different types of machines from aircraft to wind turbines to machine tools, I felt that I understood enough about the different systems used on machinery that make them function. The idea of becoming an independent service business just felt right and would be worth a try. It's been working for over 32 years now.
What I've come to understand:
You never know it all. A new, never seen before problem is always waiting to show up at the next service call. The fact is there are too many manufacturers, from too many countries, with too many different models, from too many years back to know everything there is to know about all machine tools. What I've learned over the years is that you have to understand the basic functions of the sub systems and then determine how those systems are used by that particular manufacturer, in that particular machine tool. Also, if possible I always use the machine service manual as a base line for troubleshooting. You have to understand how the machine is suppose to operate under what settings and conditions before you can determine what it is or isn't doing correctly.